Depends what you want the light for. Are the can lights for practicality? ie, so that you can tell if that sock is navy blue or black? We are planning on putting lights in front of where the drawers are because as we age, we find it harder to tell those things apart- DH has gone to work more than once with mismatched socks! If your decorative fixture is more for looks, I'd center it in the open area left after closets are installed- lights for seeing should shine on the clothes.

We have the same problem in our dining room. And the real 'ACK' part is that we gutted our whole kitchen/dining area and removed the old ceiling, so we could have addressed it properly the first time. Once the new dining room table was in, it was obvious we would be moving it off centre (pathway to deck is behind table), and we're kicking ourselves. DH is planning to buy a plaster medallion to put up on the ceiling, so that the edge of it will cover the old hole. Luckily, he is an electrical engineer, so he can do the rewiring. I COULD patch the hole, but what a LITERAL pain in the neck. So not only will the fixture be off-centre, but medallion will be too. I am pretty sure it will cost you more than $35 extra on top of the first $35 to rewire in a new location- assuming there is enough wire up there to allow the move. Ours is accessible from the attic.

thanks for the comments! the table is very narrow and the length (about 65") covers the baseboard cover (ugh).. Although there is a center pretty light fixture, the lamps provide the atmosphere, especially at night.... Been looking for photos of similar stairs; can anyone provide some PICS with oen larger lamp, etc? so I can visualize a less symmetric styling? thank you so much.

Thanks Patricia. Agree, I would prefer to be able to change bulbs. And I prefer the lower glare of recessed lights. I'll try to make and post a diagram a bit later, after I get the kids packed off to activities. For now, the perimeter countertop runs east-west along the north wall. There's a joist also running east-west 26" out from the north wall. So 5" recessed lights mounted here wouldn't be quite centered over the countertop edge. Similar issues with joists over the island.